This book focuses on the economics of smart meters and is one of the first to present comprehensive evidence on the impacts, cost-benefits and risks associated with smart metering. Throughout this volume, Jacopo Torriti integrates his findings from institutional cost-benefit analyses and smart metering trials in a range of European countries with key economic and social concepts and policy insights derived from almost ten years of research in this area. He explores the extent to which the benefits of smart meters outweigh the cost, and poses key questions including: which energy savings can be expected from the roll out of smart meters in households? Is Cost-Benefit Analysis an appropriate economic tool for assessing the impacts of smart metering rollouts? Can smart meters play a significant role in research on people's activities and the timing of energy demand? Torriti concludes by providing a much-needed survey of recent changes and expected future developments in this growing field. This book will be of great interest to students and scholars of energy policy and demand and smart metering infrastructure.

This volume focuses on the social, cultural, and ecological consequences of a political economy of energy. A political economy of energy holds that an enduring hallmark of the current context is a reorganization of human society toward energy extraction and production. Limits to Terrestrial Extraction looks at the construction of society itself as an energy-harvesting "megamachine," the ecomodernist project of the latter half of the twentieth century and its disastrous environmental record, and mining Near Earth Objects to extract extraterrestrial resources. Each chapter explores a limit to terrestrial extraction - spatially, economically, or socially - finding that business as usual cannot yield a different world. The authors eschew easy answers of natural resource management or discourses of wise use, instead offering critiques of market society and its constitutive drive to produce and waste energy. Overall, this volume establishes the existential stakes and scope of change that will be required to build a better world. This book will be of great interest to students and scholars of environmental political theory, as well as social scientists and humanities scholars who study the intersection of energy and society.

Many dynamical systems are described by differential equations that can be separated into one part, containing linear terms with constant coefficients, and a second part, relatively small compared with the first, containing nonlinear terms. Such a system is said to be weakly nonlinear. The small terms rendering the system nonlinear are referred to as perturbations. A weakly nonlinear system is called quasi-linear and is governed by quasi-linear differential equations. We will be interested in systems that reduce to harmonic oscillators in the absence of perturbations. This book is devoted primarily to applied asymptotic methods in nonlinear oscillations which are associated with the names of N. M. Krylov, N. N. Bogoli ubov and Yu. A. Mitropolskii. The advantages of the present methods are their simplicity, especially for computing higher approximations, and their applicability to a large class of quasi-linear problems. In this book, we confine ourselves basi cally to the scheme proposed by Krylov, Bogoliubov as stated in the monographs 6,211. We use these methods, and also develop and improve them for solving new problems and new classes of nonlinear differential equations. Although these methods have many applications in Mechanics, Physics and Technique, we will illustrate them only with examples which clearly show their strength and which are themselves of great interest. A certain amount of more advanced material has also been included, making the book suitable for a senior elective or a beginning graduate course on nonlinear oscillations."

This book presents theoretical and experimental investigations of mechanical behavior of solids under shock loading and highlights a multi-scale exchange process of energy and momentum between meso and macroscopic hierarchy. It also widely covers experimental approaches for the multi-scale response of solids to impacts including uniaxial strain conditions and high-velocity penetration processes. The content comprises two parts. The first part overviews modeling and theory of dynamically deformed solids from the multi-scale point of view. The second part describes experimental characterization of shock-induced solids and experimental probing of mesostructured and mesoscale dynamic processes in solids. The theory presented in the first part is then verified as it is compared with i) experiments of shock loading into different kinds of solids and ii) probed microstructure of post-shocked specimens by scanning electron microscopy, transmission electron microscopy and optical microscopy. The text is written on the basis of author's lectures at universities and thus is concisely described for postgraduate students. It is also useful for researchers who work on the theory of multi-scale mechanics of solids and engineers who work on testing materials under dynamic loading.

This book details the use of conducting polymers and their composites in supercapacitors, batteries, photovoltaics, and fuel cells, nearly covering the entire spectrum of energy area under one title. Conducting Polymers for Advanced Energy Applications covers a range of advanced materials based on conducting polymers, the fundamentals, and the chemistry behind these materials for energy applications. FEATURES Covers materials, chemistry, various synthesis approaches, and the properties of conducting polymers and their composites Discusses commercialization and markets and elaborates on advanced applications Presents an overview and the advantages of using conducting polymers and their composites for advanced energy applications Describes a variety of nanocomposites, including metal oxides, chalcogenides, graphene, and materials beyond graphene Offers the fundamentals of electrochemical behavior This book provides a new direction for scientists, researchers, and students in materials science and polymer chemistry who seek to better understand the chemistry behind conducting polymers and improve their performance for use in advanced energy applications.

In petroleum refineries, although there are sets of standard operating procedures to operate the plants, unique problems often arise, which need to be tackled with engineering knowledge and experience without much loss of energy and time. This process is termed 'troubleshooting', and it saves production loss, leading to profitability and sustainability of the refinery operation. This book covers the ins and outs of troubleshooting in petroleum refineries, with an analysis of the problems faced, the fundamentals behind them and logical reasoning and illustrations to solve the problems, along with lessons learnt. This is the first such book on the market since the publication of one by Norman P. Lieberman about 30 years ago, and there has been a massive change in technology since then. This book will not only enlighten practicing engineers in refineries and postgraduate students but also facilitate the creation of a knowledge bank on troubleshooting case studies, helping share engineering knowledge and experiences.

Conceived as a series of more or less autonomous essays, the present book critically exposes the initial developments of continuum thermo-mechanics in a post Newtonian period extending from the creative works of the Bernoullis to the First World war, i.e., roughly during first the "Age of reason" and next the "Birth of the modern world". The emphasis is rightly placed on the original contributions from the "Continental" scientists (the Bernoulli family, Euler, d'Alembert, Lagrange, Cauchy, Piola, Duhamel, Neumann, Clebsch, Kirchhoff, Helmholtz, Saint-Venant, Boussinesq, the Cosserat brothers, Caratheodory) in competition with their British peers (Green, Kelvin, Stokes, Maxwell, Rayleigh, Love,..). It underlines the main breakthroughs as well as the secondary ones. It highlights the role of scientists who left essential prints in this history of scientific ideas. The book shows how the formidable developments that blossomed in the twentieth century (and perused in a previous book of the author in the same Springer Series: "Continuum Mechanics through the Twentieth Century", Springer 2013) found rich compost in the constructive foundational achievements of the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. The pre-WWI situation is well summarized by a thorough analysis of treatises (Appell, Hellinger) published at that time. English translations by the author of most critical texts in French or German are given to the benefit of the readers.

- Illuminates ignored histories, influential contemporary narratives, and emerging energy and environmental futures - Centres on North Atlantic and Arctic regions; the continuing but often strongly contested pursuit of oil and gas in frigid, tumultuous, and environmentally sensitive seas enforces the lengths to which corporations and governments will go to maintain the centrality of fossil fuels -Focuses on the cultural, social, and ecological implications of oil and gas extraction in the oceanic territories of Canada, Norway, the UK, Russia, the US, and the Inupiat of Alaska at a time of profound global uncertainty

The scientific community and industry have seen tremendous progress in efficient energy production and storage in the last few years. With the advancement in technology, new devices require high-performance, stretchable, bendable, and twistable energy sources, which can be integrated into next-generation wearable, compact, and portable electronics for medical, military, and civilian applications. Smart and Flexible Energy Devices examines the materials, basic working principles, and state-of-the-art progress of flexible devices like fuel cells, solar cells, batteries, and supercapacitors. Covering the synthesis approaches for advanced energy materials in flexible devices and fabrications and fundamental design concepts of flexible energy devices, such as fuel cells, solar cells, batteries, and supercapacitors, top author teams explore how newer materials with advanced properties are used to fabricate the energy devices to meet the future demand for flexible electronics. Additional features include: * Addressing the materials, technologies, and challenges of various flexible energy devices under one cover * Emphasizing the future demand and challenges of the field * Considering all flexible energy types, such as fuel cells, solar cells, batteries, and supercapacitors * Suitability for undergraduate and postgraduate students of material science and energy programs This is a valuable resource for academics and industry professionals working in the field of energy materials, nanotechnology, and energy devices.

This book examines material composites used in connection with brake friction, their design and safety. To aid in understanding, the essentials of friction are explained. This second edition was extended to include friction material composites without copper, as they offer an environmentally friendlier option. The second edition is intended to support beginners by offering insights into the essentials of friction material composites, helping them to develop a broader understanding of brake friction materials. Friction materials find wide-ranging applications in household and industrial appliances, brake pads for automotive applications, rail brake friction pads and composition brake blocks. This second edition is an introductory volume to a set of related books, and is based on the author's experience and expertise with various material manufacturers, brake manufacturers, vehicle manufacturers, researchers and testing labs around the world with which the author has been associated for the past 28 years.

Highlights sustainability via new tribological approaches and how such methods are essential Covers theoretical aspects of various tribological topics concerning mechanical and material designs for energy-efficient systems Includes practical global sustainability based on the regional requirement of tribological research and sustainable impact Reviews tribology of green lubricants, green additives and lightweight materials Discusses topics related to biomimetics and bio-tribology

Presents a new physical and mathematical theory of irreversible deformations and ductile fracture of metals that acknowledges the continuous change in the structure of materials during deformation and the accumulation of deformation damage. Plastic deformation, viscous destruction, evolution of structure, creep processes, and long-term strength of metals and stress relaxation are described in the framework of a unified approach and model. The author then expands this into a mathematical model for determining the mechanical characteristics of quasi-samples of standard mechanical properties in deformed semi-finished products.

Nanostructured electrode materials have exhibited unrivaled electrochemical properties in creating elite supercapacitors. Morphology Design Paradigm for Supercapacitors presents the latest advances in the improvement of supercapacitors, a result of the incorporation of nanomaterials into the design - from zero-dimensional to three-dimensional, and microporous to mesoporous. The book includes a comprehensive description of capacitive practices at the levels of sub-atomic and nanoscales. These have the ability to enhance device performance for an extensive assortment of potential applications, including consumer electronics, wearable gadgets, hybrid electric vehicles, stationary and industrial frameworks. Key Features: Provides readers with a clear understanding of the implementation of these materials as electrodes in electrochemical supercapacitors. Covers recent material designs and an extensive scope of electrode materials such as 0D to 3D. Explores recent nanostructured-system material designs that have been created and tested in supercapacitor configurations. Considers microporous to mesoporous supercapacitor electrode materials. Features the impact of nanostructures on the properties of supercapacitors, including specific capacitance, cycle stability, and rate capability.

Among electrode materials, inorganic materials have received vast consideration owing to their redox chemistry, chemical stability, high electrochemical performance, and high-power applications. These exceptional properties enable inorganic-based materials to find application in high-performance energy conversion and storage. The current advances in nanotechnology have uncovered novel inorganic materials by various strategies and their different morphological features may serve as a rule for future supercapacitor electrode design for efficient supercapacitor performance. Inorganic Nanomaterials for Supercapacitor Design depicts the latest advances in inorganic nanomaterials for supercapacitor energy storage devices. Key Features: ? Provides an overview on the supercapacitor application of inorganic-based materials. ? Describes the fundamental aspects, key factors, advantages, and challenges of inorganic supercapacitors. ? Presents up-to-date coverage of the large, rapidly growing, and complex literature on inorganic supercapacitors. ? Surveys current applications in supercapacitor energy storage. ? Explores the new aspects of inorganic materials and next-generation supercapacitor systems.

Heavy crude oils and bitumen represent more than 50% of all hydrocarbons available on the planet. These feedstocks have a low amount of distillable material and high level of contaminants that make their production, transportation, and refining difficult and costly by conventional technologies. Subsurface Upgrading of Heavy Crude Oils and Bitumen is of interest to the petroleum industry mainly because of the advantages compared to aboveground counterparts. The author presents an in-depth account and a critical review of the progress of industry and academia in underground or In-Situ upgrading of heavy, extra-heavy oils and bitumen, as reported in the patent and open literature. This work is aimed to be a standalone monograph, so three chapters are dedicated to the composition of petroleum and fundamentals of crude oil production and refining. Key Features: Offers a multidisciplinary scope that will appeal to chemists, geologists, biologists, chemical engineers, and petroleum engineers Presents the advantages and disadvantages of the technologies considered Discusses economic and environmental considerations for all the routes evaluated and offers perspectives from experts in the field working with highlighted technologies

This book presents a series of innovative technologies and research results on adaptive control of dynamic systems with quantization, uncertainty, and nonlinearity, including the theoretical success and practical development such as the approaches for stability analysis, the compensation of quantization, the treatment of subsystem interactions, and the improvement of system tracking and transient performance. Novel solutions by adopting backstepping design tools to a number of hotspots and challenging problems in the area of adaptive control are provided. In the first three chapters, the general design procedures and stability analysis of backstepping controllers and the basic descriptions and properties of quantizers are introduced as preliminary knowledge for this book. In the remainder of this book, adaptive control schemes are introduced to compensate for the effects of input quantization, state quantization, both input and state/output quantization for uncertain nonlinear systems and are applied to helicopter systems and DC Microgrid. Discussion remarks are provided in each chapter highlighting new approaches and contributions to emphasize the novelty of the presented design and analysis methods. Simulation results are also given in each chapter to show the effectiveness of these methods. This book is helpful to learn and understand the fundamental backstepping schemes for state feedback control and output feedback control. It can be used as a reference book or a textbook on adaptive quantized control for students with some background in feedback control systems. Researchers, graduate students, and engineers in the fields of control, information, and communication, electrical engineering, mechanical engineering, computer science, and others will benefit from this book.

Biomass and Carbon Fuels in Metallurgy presents contemporary and new insights into the use of carbonaceous (Biomass) fuels in the metallurgical sector. The authors describe application of these fuels in different technological processes to produce pig iron, steel and ferroalloys. Emphasis is placed on biomass and its metallurgical utilization. Coverage includes the specification of fuels, their classification and the characteristics of their basic properties. The use of carbonaceous fuels in the production of various kinds of agglomerates (ferriferous, manganese and metalized) is also covered. Key Features: Provides a comprehensive view of carbonaceous fuels in various metallurgy processes Details experiments conducted on the use of traditional and alternative (biomass) carbonaceous fuels for the production of agglomerates. Demonstrates that the energy potential of biomass can also be successfully used in pyrometallurgical processes Describes applications of biomass-based fuels in different technological processes for the production of pig iron, steel and ferroalloys. Coverage includes the specification of fuels, their classification and the characteristics of their basic properties.

Petroleum reservoir management considerations and practices are deeply rooted in the optimization of development objectives, requisite investments, operational costs, and philosophy in addition to the dynamics of timely decision-making. Petroleum Reservoir Management: Considerations and Practices highlights the key reservoir management topics and issues that engage the attention of exploration and production companies over the life cycle of an oilfield. This is the only book to exclusively address petroleum reservoir management based on actual field development experience. It emphasizes the role of good project management, the value of a quantitative assessment of reservoir health, the importance of using good practices, and the need for true collaboration among various team players to maximize the benefits. The book expands the scope of reservoir management from field operations to boardroom discussions about capital financing to product pricing criteria, mechanisms, and strategies. FEATURES Reviews subsurface and surface management issues Discusses project and price management factors critical to the oil industry Describes macromanagement issues covering the reservoir life cycle from production to pricing Includes the role and significance of teamwork, open communication, and synergy in reservoir management This book is aimed at professionals and graduate students in petroleum and reservoir engineering, oil and gas companies, and environmental engineering.

Road Vehicle Dynamics: Fundamentals and Modeling with MATLAB (R), Second Edition combines coverage of vehicle dynamics concepts with MATLAB v9.4 programming routines and results, along with examples and numerous chapter exercises. Improved and updated, the revised text offers new coverage of active safety systems, rear wheel steering, race car suspension systems, airsprings, four-wheel drive, mechatronics, and other topics. Based on the lead author's extensive lectures, classes, and research activities, this unique text provides readers with insights into the computer-based modeling of automobiles and other ground vehicles. Instructor resources, including problem solutions, are available from the publisher.

Explores information on the present and future of sustainable lubricants due to its accelerated demands in industries Provides conceptual overview of lubricant application in manufacturing and automobile industries Discusses lubricants used in the micro-electromechanical systems (MEMS), nano-electromechanical systems (NEMS), tribo-systems under extreme conditions and for biomedical applications Reviews information about various types of additives and their role in lubricants, and their cost effectiveness Includes case studies related to journal-bearing/gear drive systems

This book focuses on latent heat storage, which is one of the most efficient ways of storing thermal energy. Unlike the sensible heat storage method, the latent heat storage method provides much higher storage density with a smaller difference between storing and releasing temperatures. Thermal Energy Storage with Phase Change Materials is structured into four chapters that cover many aspects of thermal energy storage and their practical applications. Chapter 1 reviews selection, performance, and applications of phase change materials. Chapter 2 investigates mathematical analyses of phase change processes. Chapters 3 and 4 present passive and active applications for energy saving, peak load shifting, and price-based control heating using phase change materials. These chapters explore the hot topic of energy saving in an overarching way, and so they are relevant to all courses. This book is an ideal research reference for students at the postgraduate level. It also serves as a useful reference for electrical, mechanical, and chemical engineers and students throughout their work. FEATURES Explains the technical principles of thermal energy storage, including materials and applications in different classifications Provides fundamental calculations of heat transfer with phase change Discusses the benefits and limitations of different types of phase change materials (PCM) in both micro- and macroencapsulations Reviews the mechanisms and applications of available thermal energy storage systems Introduces innovative solutions in hot and cold storage applications

Completely revised and updated with a new chapter on future possibilities Comprehensive coverage of available renewable technologies starting from basic scientific and engineering principles Compares and contrasts renewable technologies against each other and existing non-renewables like fossil fuels & nuclear power Addresses new developments in topics such as climate change mitigation, solar photovoltaic lighting, electricity grids, small-scale batteries, electric vehicles and bio-fuels

This volume brings together 18 experts with diverse backgrounds and expertise from around the globe to tackle climate change from multiple angles. A comprehensive exposition of the interconnection between ocean, weather, and climate variability is a pre-requisite for understanding the challenge. The solution approach encompasses a better appreciation of the roof, refined solar energy estimation, heightened heat exchange effectiveness, improved understanding of photovoltaic operation in the Arctic, and integration of thermoelectric with photovoltaic. Adaptation is an essential and immediate remedy that every individual must take part in, understanding that men and women respond to the thermal environment differently. Imagine future buildings made from appetizing materials, closing a sustainable design process with self-sufficient communities. Would hydrogen become a crucial part of the mitigation?

This textbook provides an accessible introduction to various energy transformation technologies and their influences on the environment. Here the energy transformation is understood as any physical process induced by humans, in which energy is intentionally transformed from one form to another. This book provides an accessible introduction to the subject: covering the theory, principles of design, operation, and efficiency of the systems in addition to discerning concepts such as energy, entropy, exergy, efficiency, and sustainability. It is not assumed that readers have any previous exposure to such concepts as laws of thermodynamics, entropy, exergy, fluid mechanics or heat transfer, and is therefore an ideal textbook for advanced undergraduate students. Key features: Represents a complete source of information on sustainable energy transformation systems and their externalities. Includes all existing and major emerging technologies in the field. Chapters include numerous examples and problems for further learning opportunities.